Chapter 18: The Mysterious Map

Charles turned on his flashlight, and that's when he noticed a key clutched tightly in the skeletal hand. The key was intricately carved, and Charles estimated it could fetch a good price at an art market.

"Cough, cough, I'm sure you wouldn't want this key to be left forgotten in the forest, right?" Charles said to the decapitated remains with a sheepish smile. "I'll count to three, and if you have no objections, I'll take it."

"Three!"

"Two..."

"One!"

Feeling relieved, Charles concluded that the deceased had given their consent, so he took the key and placed it into his storage space.

As Charles was preparing to gather the materials from the Resurrecting Serpent, he noticed various antiques scattered on the ground: a Bronze Division sword, Bronze Division goblets, a Bronze Division cauldron, ceramics, terracotta figurines... He suddenly understood.

These were the belongings of tomb raiders!

Carrying bags full of stolen relics, they hadn't anticipated that their path through this area would end at the jaws of the Resurrecting Serpent!

Knowing this, Charles's respect for the remains on the ground waned, and he even cursed inwardly, "Serves them right."

Among the relics on the ground, he noticed a small Bronze Division box and, driven by curiosity, opened it to find two pieces of parchment inside.

[Ding! You have obtained a recipe for a tone reproduction miracle drug alchemy ×1!]

[Ding! You have obtained a fragment of an unknown map ×1!]

"An alchemy recipe? Could the owner of the tomb have been an alchemist?"

Charles was thrilled. He hadn't expected to find such treasures in the lair of the Resurrecting Serpent!

Charles checked the [alchemy lab] option in his system, and indeed, alongside the hemostatic powder, there was now another alchemy recipe added.

[Regenerating Potion]

[Tier]: Tone reproduction miracle drug

[Description]: The lowest tier of alchemy potion. When consumed, it restores some energy to both the Beast Master and their pet.

Charles glanced over the recipe's description and was immediately thrilled.

He could already produce hemostatic powder, which allowed for quick recovery from injuries during battles, but he had no means to restore energy. Fatigue could easily set in if energy ran low.

Max, having used [Bone-Achingly Cold] consecutively, was now so exhausted that it had fallen asleep in his arms.

Once this [Regenerating Potion] was successfully concocted, he would be able to rapidly stop bleeding and continuously replenish energy during battles, essentially becoming an indefatigable fighter. How could others compete with that?

Charles was eager to experiment with the alchemy lab, but considering the constant danger around him, he decided it would be safer to wait until he was back at camp.

"There might be treasure hidden within this map, but unfortunately, it's only a fragment. I wonder where the rest might be..."

After collecting all the relics scattered by the tomb raiders from the ground, Charles then began to gather materials from the Resurrecting Serpent.

[Obtained Resurrecting Serpent Gallbladder x1!]

[Obtained Resurrecting Serpent Skin x20!]

[Obtained Resurrecting Serpent Fangs x4!]

[Obtained Resurrecting Serpent Blood x100kg!]

[Obtained Resurrecting Serpent Meat x100kg!]

He meticulously separated the large amounts of materials and neatly stored them in his storage space. Due to the abundance of the Resurrecting Serpent's flesh and blood, Charles only kept the most vital parts.

He had initially planned to venture deeper into the Ferocious Beast Mountains, but considering Max's current condition, he decided against it.

Charles's stomach suddenly began to grumble, after a night filled with battle and treasure hunting, he was both exhausted and parched.

He glanced at the sky, the moon already tilting westward: "It's almost dawn, I should eat something before I face another long trek through the mountains."

Finding a flat spot, Charles set up a grill and started a fire, placing fresh serpent meat on it.

He then retrieved some spices from his storage space...

Before long, the Resurrecting Serpent meat sizzled enticingly, the fat dripping and crackling in the heat.

This ferocious beast meat not only helped quickly restore physical strength but was also beneficial for increasing one's power. Charles rubbed his hands in anticipation of the meal.

At the scent of the grilled meat, Max, who had been sleeping soundly in Charles's lap, suddenly woke up, drooling at the sight of the skewers in Charles's hand.

"Sorry, Max, didn't mean to wake you up!" Charles said apologetically, sharing half of the cooked Resurrecting Serpent meat with Max.

Max devoured it eagerly, clearly famished after the battle.

"This tastes surprisingly good; the meat is more tender than I expected, not tough at all!" Charles said with a satisfied smile on his face.

If he started a food livestream featuring ferocious beast cuisine, would it become an internet sensation?

After finishing the meat, Charles drank some snake blood. He immediately felt a warm surge in his abdomen, and energy spread to his limbs, greatly reducing the fatigue from a night's exertion.

Feeling fully satiated, Charles quietly made his way back toward the camp.

By then, the campfire had died down, leaving only the deep red coals emitting their final warmth.

With the eastern sky slowly lightening, Charles hurried to make the most of this time to concoct the Regenerating Potion.

He reviewed the alchemy recipe, noting it required only common materials, of which he had some left in his storage space. Having previously made hundreds of miracle drugs at home in Isengard, he was quite skilled in producing this kind of tone reproduction miracle drug.

In a short while, he had successfully concocted several doses, even finding time to catch some sleep.

Charles had barely laid down to rest when his phone began to vibrate incessantly—it turned out the "Trial Team Mega Group" chat had exploded!

Charles tapped in to see what was happening.

"Have you guys seen the leaderboard? Charles, who was ranked over 1000th last night, has suddenly shot up to 8th place!"

"What! How is that possible? He's in my group; wasn't he sleeping in his tent?"

"Do you think it's possible that Charles sneaked out while everyone was sleeping to hoard points?"

"You're joking, right? Fighting at night is too dangerous, he wouldn't have the guts!"

"That's impossible! Absolutely not!"

"Let's not talk about this; the Ferocious Beast Mountains are terrifying. My pet died in battle yesterday, now I have no protection, I just want to go home..."

"Did you guys hear any strange noises last night? I heard something outside my tent and was so scared I couldn't sleep!"

"Our Group 7 didn't kill a single ferocious beast yesterday, and we're almost out of dry food. Don't you guys have some ferocious beast meat? Could you spare some for us?"

"Ferocious beast meat? I don't have much myself... But hey, you have a nice profile picture. If you want some, come to my tent tonight, I'll share some with you?"

...

The chat was filled with suspicions about his score and a litany of complaints.

Insect bites, snake attacks, contaminated water, food shortages, declining pet loyalty... the problems were diverse and numerous.

There was even a rumor that the group at the very front, Group 1, had gone missing, including their accompanying teacher, and it was likely they had encountered trouble.

Seeing all this, Charles was increasingly grateful for his system, a powerful tool.

If he hadn't been able to see the weaknesses, perhaps he would have lost his life in the battle against the Resurrecting Serpent.

"Wake up!"

"Come on, wake up, no more sleeping!"

Outside the tent, Vice President Fletcher's impatient voice could be heard urging:

"I'm giving everyone 30 minutes to pack up your tents and have breakfast. The first group that camped in the valley ahead last night has gone missing. We need to cross that area and set up camp in a safe place before dark."

Fletcher's announcement was met with a chorus of sighs and groans.

"Only 30 minutes... I can't even pack up in time, can't Fletcher be a little more lenient?"

"I... I still need to do my skincare and makeup. Can't we leave in an hour instead?"

"The entire first group is missing? That's terrifying! I want to go home..."

Despite the students' complaints, Fletcher showed no signs of relenting, instead moving from tent to tent to hurry the students along.

When he reached Charles, his expression suddenly changed, and after double-checking his phone, he spoke in a softer tone: "You're Charles, right?"

Charles nodded: "Is there something you need, Vice President?"

Fletcher's stern expression softened as he looked at Charles with a more amiable gaze: "Well, well! Where did you sneak off to score points last night, climbing all the way to 8th place?"

The so-called point-scoring involved hunting low-level, the escaped fish while others slept, a tactic some students used in previous years and was tacitly condoned as a way to gain by trickery.

He clearly hadn't expected Charles to have hunted a Level 7 Resurrecting Serpent.

Seeing Charles not responding, Fletcher took his silence as an acknowledgment and admonished him earnestly: "Try to rest earlier at night. Look, you're so slow during the day you're dragging the team down."

"This method of gaining by trickery might boost your score temporarily, but it's not a sustainable strategy."

No sooner had Fletcher finished speaking than a cry for help erupted from the outskirts of the camp. A girl, crying, screamed:

"Help, teacher! There's a ferocious beast attacking!"